Of all food related allergies, milk allergy symptoms are the easiest to detect. However, to go to the root of it, let us see what milk is made of. Cow’s milk consists of water, protein, carbohydrates, lactose (a form of milk sugar), minerals, fats and other stabilizing agents. Our system tolerates most of the constituents save and except the protein, casein and whey, treating them as alien substances. Moment the whistle is blown, all hell break lose and allergy symptoms start appearing. Milk allergy symptoms, however, may appear immediately or hours after the intake of moderate to large quantity of cow’s milk.

The Worst Sufferers

Children mostly suffer from milk allergies, but many of them get over it by the age or six or seven. Though whey proteins in the cow’s milk get broken down when the milk is boiled, the casein proteins remain intact as they are heat-resistant and that is why those who are allergic to the latter cannot assimilate cow’s milk even after the same is boiled.

How to detect milk allergy symptoms

Common milk allergy symptoms are more or less similar to those of other food related allergies like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and acute abdominal colic. In severe cases, symptoms involve the skin creating urticaria and eczema. In some cases symptoms also include running nose, coughing, ear and nose infection, irritability, rash and nasal stuffiness. If left untreated, these allergies take the shape of sinusitis, bronchitis, recurrent diarrhea, persistent ‘colds’, abdominal cramps together with wheezy chest.

So far three patterns or types of milk allergy symptoms have been identified.

Type One: Milk allergy symptoms appear within minutes and the reactions are visible to the naked eye on the skin of the victim – Eczema or Urticaria on the exposed skin surface. It may be accompanied with or without Respiratory or Gastro-intestinal signs or symptoms.

Type Two: Milk allergy symptoms start several hours after the intake of modest quantity of cow’s milk in the form of vomiting and diarrhea.

Type Three: Milk allergy symptoms take a longer time to manifest. It may take a day or two after drinking a liberal quantity of cow’s milk for the symptoms to appear. It mostly takes the form of acute diarrhea with or without skin or respiratory problems.

Milk allergy symptoms are difficult to diagnose

In the case of infants, it becomes difficult if the symptoms start immediately after the child is put on the milk formula. For adults, it is even more complex since the person may have consumed other foodstuffs that are allergy prone besides having a glass of milk.

Milk allergy may also be caused from milk products like cottage cheese, cream or milk shake. In all such cases it would be prudent to take medical help in order to diagnose milk allergy.